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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

We have a couple of goals for our Gazetteer:

  • That it be a tool which helps us with planning our trips.
  • We're trying to shape our Gazetteer as a tool to help us understand the community in which our ancestors lived, the community that was part of their daily lives.
  • On our trips, we try to visit those places where our ancestors left their footprints.

By learning about Belding (and the surrounding area) during the time that our ancestors lived, we hope to have a better understanding of both their community and its relationship to their lifes. We hope that this tool helps to give us an insight into their world.

As we add data and organize our Gazetteer to help with our family research, we will be adding to this our Genealogical Helper for Belding. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.

Neighboring Counties ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived:  their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the east contained birth and death records; the county to the north contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Belding is located in Ionia County.

To see how the shape of Michigan's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Ionia County: Barry, Clinton, Eaton, Gratiot, Kent & Montcalm.

Below are the counties that are near Belding. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Belding:

  • Ionia County     (The home county of Belding)
  • Barry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Belding, with the one closest to Belding listed first.
    • Freeport
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Freeport have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeport
      • Freeport is located in Barry County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 503 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Freeport <2>
    • Woodland
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Irving
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Middleville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Middleville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middleville
      • Middleville is located in Barry County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,510 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Middleville <2>
  • Clinton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Belding, with the one closest to Belding listed first.
    • Westphalia
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Fowler
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Maple Rapids
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Rapids have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Rapids
      • Maple Rapids is located in Clinton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 671 people
    • Eagle
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Eaton County
  • Gratiot County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Belding, with the one closest to Belding listed first.
    • Sumner
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Middleton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Elm Hall
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elm Hall have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Hall
      • Elm Hall is located in Gratiot County
    • Perrinton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Riverdale
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Riverdale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverdale
      • Riverdale is located in Gratiot County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Riverdale <2>
  • Isabella County
    • Blanchard
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blanchard have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanchard
      • Blanchard is located in Isabella County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Blanchard <2>
  • Kent County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Belding, with the one closest to Belding listed first.
    • Grattan
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Parnell
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Parnell. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parnell
      • Parnell is located in Kent County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Parnell
      • From Belding to Parnell
    • Harvard
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Harvard. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harvard
      • Harvard is located in Kent County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Harvard
      • From Belding to Harvard
    • Lowell
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Cannonsburg
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Segwun
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Sheffield
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Ada
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ada have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ada
      • Ada is located in Kent County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ada <2>
    • Forest Hills
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Hills
      • Forest Hills is located in Kent County
    • Rockford
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rockford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockford
      • Rockford is located in Kent County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,395 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rockford <2>
    • Edgerton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Edgerton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgerton
      • Edgerton is located in Kent County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Edgerton
      • From Belding to Edgerton
    • Cedar Springs
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Springs
      • Cedar Springs is located in Kent County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,743 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cedar Springs <2>
    • Alto
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alto have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alto
      • Alto is located in Kent County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alto <2>
  • Mecosta County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Belding, with the one closest to Belding listed first.
    • Morley
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Morley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morley
      • Morley is located in Mecosta County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 495 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Morley <2>
    • Rustford
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rustford. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rustford
      • Rustford is located in Mecosta County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Rustford
      • From Belding to Rustford
    • Halls Corner
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Montcalm County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Belding, with the one closest to Belding listed first.
    • Greenville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenville
      • Greenville is located in Montcalm County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,386 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Greenville <2>
    • Eureka Place
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Amsden
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Fenwick
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Gowen
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gowen have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gowen
      • Gowen is located in Montcalm County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gowen <2>
    • Sheridan
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Sidney
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sidney have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sidney
      • Sidney is located in Montcalm County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sidney <2>
    • Vickeryville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Langston
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Langston. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Langston
      • Langston is located in Montcalm County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Langston
      • From Belding to Langston
    • Stanton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stanton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanton
      • Stanton is located in Montcalm County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,420 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stanton <2>
    • Butternut
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Trufant
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trufant have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trufant
      • Trufant is located in Montcalm County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Trufant <2>
    • Crystal
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Newaygo County
    • Sun
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sun. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun
      • Sun is located in Newaygo County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sun
      • From Belding to Sun
  • Ottawa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Belding, with the one closest to Belding listed first.
    • Wright
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Marne
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marne have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marne
      • Marne is located in Ottawa County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marne <2>

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Belding, see our County-by-County Page for Belding.

Cemeteries Near Belding ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Belding.

This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know. If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Belding covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Belding, with the one closest to Belding listed first.

  • Belding Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Belding Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Belding Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • River Ridge Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the River Ridge Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the River Ridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Joseph Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Joseph Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Otisco Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Otisco Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Otisco Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Smyrna Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Smyrna Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Smyrna Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Greene Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Rest Haven Memorial Gardens
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rest Haven Memorial Gardens
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rest Haven Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Eureka Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Eureka Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Eureka Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Forest Home Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Forest Home Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Forest Home Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Greenop Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Greenop Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Greenop Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mason Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mason Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mason Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (273 more) ...

Nearby Communities in 1895 ...

We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Belding had a population of 1,730 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Belding had a population of 5,738 people.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Belding, with the one closest to Belding listed first.

  • Smyrna
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Smyrna have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smyrna
    • Smyrna is located in Ionia County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Smyrna <2>
  • Greenville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenville
    • Greenville is located in Montcalm County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,386 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Greenville <2>
  • Orleans
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Woods Corners
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Shiloh
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Amsden
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Grattan
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Alton
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alton
    • Alton is located in Kent County
  • Fenwick
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Parnell
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Parnell. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parnell
    • Parnell is located in Kent County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Parnell
    • From Belding to Parnell
  • Fallassburg
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fallassburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fallassburg
    • Fallassburg is located in Kent County
  • Saranac
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Belding. See our List of 1890's Communities around Belding.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Belding ...

An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.

Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 201 newspapers that have been published in the area around Belding.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Belding. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Belding and those printed in the larger area surrounding Belding.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Belding.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer websites offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.

To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Belding:

The official website for Belding: www.ci.belding.mi.us/

The official website for Ionia County: www.ioniacounty.org/

The official website for State of Michigan: https://www.michigan.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Belding) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Belding. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.0960, Longitude: -85.2287    
<5>The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com.
<6>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Belding, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025